


As We Grow

by Clockwork_hourglass



Category: Free!
Genre: AU, Childbirth, Hospital, Other, Rin has a dog, Slight swearing, Twins, emotional stuff, original character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8595403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockwork_hourglass/pseuds/Clockwork_hourglass
Summary: Basically Rin as a single father trying to raise twins





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing with my life but this idea seemed fun, again not sure where entirely I'm going with it yet and updates will not be consistent.
> 
> (will add tags as I go)

“Two?!” Rin couldn’t stop himself grinning as he watched his sister staring at the picture in her hands. He noticed tears filling her eyes, but head had experienced a similar reaction himself when he saw it (which he would never admit to) so he decided to keep quiet.

“Rin I didn’t even know you were having one and now you’re telling me you’re having two?!” she finally looked up from the photo to meet her brothers eyes and he held his hands up in defence, all that separated them was a small table and not a very strong one at that.

“We decided not to tell anyone until we knew for certain, you know how it is” he didn’t need to say anymore for her features to soften slightly, she was one of the few people that knew about that. Going back to staring at the picture she breathed out slowly.

“Amazing right?” he grinned again as she nodded.

“You know mum’s gonna kill you for keeping this from her” he froze at the way she said it so calmly, eyes still looking down reaching for her cup of tea as if she hadn’t just delivered his death sentence.

“A-anyway, it’ll be your turn next so she won’t have time to kill me” stuttering he tried to turn the conversation around so he wasn’t the focus.

“If you’re expecting me to get all embarrassed you’re going to be disappointed, I’m not you” she smiled peering over the top of her mug.

“I don’t get embarrassed that easily!” he retorted causing her to raise an eyebrow at him, setting her tea back on the table she crossed her fingers and rested her chin on them.

“Would you like to know exactly how my plans on getting pregnant are going?” he could feel his face heat up and he shook his head, he wasn’t exactly comfortable with their relationship yet and wasn’t sure if he ever would be. He didn’t need images of her and Sousuke added to his dreams at night.

“See, you’re so easy onii chan” she giggled turning back into his little sister again and he managed to get his blush under control enough to reach over and ruffle her hair.

“Shut up” he wasn’t really that mad and his tone of voice showed it, today was just too good a day to be angry he thought glancing at the picture. The grey shapes stared back at him, he could make out exactly where all the limbs were now thanks to having stared at it for over an hour while he waited for Gou to arrive. She moved round next to him and smiled over his shoulder.

“Sousuke will probably cry too when I tell him” Rin hadn’t even been aware he was crying until she pointed it out and he rubbed his eyes before anything fell onto the photo, hearing a small sniff behind him he knew he wasn’t the only one getting emotional. Again. Although he was a little doubtful as to whether his friend would shed tears, Sousuke rarely cried and it was usually in pain when he knocked his shoulder. 

“Well if he does make sure you tease him for me” Rin knew he was in no position to talk and when Sousuke inevitably phoned him later he would probably be the one being made fun of, but he could at least try. Feeling something move in his pocket he pulled out his phone and swallowed when he saw ‘mum’ flash up on the screen, Gou sat back on her heels to watch as he debated letting the call go to voicemail.

“It’ll be your dying wish” she said as he swiped the little green phone across the screen and hesitantly held the phone to his ear, there weren’t many people that scared Rin but Mrs Matsuoka was one of them.

 _“Rin, you there?”_ realising he hadn’t actually said hello yet he coughed and mentally tried to get his shit together.

“Y-yeah, hey mum”

 _“You’ll never guess who I met while I was out”_ not having any idea of where his mother meant by ‘out’ and the fact that Rin hadn’t met most of his mother’s friends left him frantically looking to his sister for help. She just shrugged and he resisted the urge to face palm.

“Who?”

_“Misaki”_

Oh shit.

Maybe she hasn’t told her yet? He decided to pin any last hopes on that as he focused his attention on breathing properly, very aware the Gou was trying not to laugh beside him.

“O-oh really?”

 _“Rin, why didn’t you tell me?”_ on second thoughts maybe this would be better over the phone, she couldn’t physically hurt him this way at least…

“W-well you know how things are we just wanted to be sure before we told anyone…” 

_“Is that all I am to you Rin? Just anyone?”_ and here we go he thought, he knew she was joking but everyone knew that fake guilt tripping him actually made him feel really bad. 

“No of course not! Do you know how hard it was to keep this from you guys?!”He tried to keep the edge of panic out of his voice but wasn’t being very successful.

 _“Then you can start making it up to us with dinner tonight”_ he saw Gou’s eyes light up and sighed, this was how it was when Rin messed up, it always ended with him redeeming himself by emptying his wallet. At least the only restaurants around Iwatobi weren’t that expensive or he would’ve been on the streets years ago.

Finally ending the conversation with his mother Rin slumped forwards onto the table, his family were exhausting sometimes but he still loved them. In truth he had been planning some sort of celebratory thing since they got the news, and those events usually involve food so this was a good thing. He could make up for keeping it a secret and get the congratulations out of the way at the way at the same time, two birds with one stone as they say. He brought himself out of his reverie when he realized a pair of red eyes staring at him.

"What?"

"Nothing, well if we're going out tonight I'd better go and get ready" she got up and grabbed her bag from the floor slipping her feet back into her sandals. Rin accompanied her to the door leaning on the frame as he tried to mentally organize dinner plans.

"I'll text you the details" he said giving her a quick hug, closing the door he headed back to the table and picked the picture up so it wouldn't get damaged, heaven knows Yuki would eat anything. 

"And speaking of..." he trailed off as he heard scrambling footsteps heading in his direction and had about three seconds to prepare himself before the dog launched itself at him. He laughed and stroked her fur behind the ears making sure to discreetly put the photo into his back pocket for safekeeping. He guessed she’d been too busy either sleeping or digging more holes in the yard to come and greet guests. 

"I'm afraid you're out of luck, Gou already left" understandably the do showed no indication of realizing what Rin had said and continued to stare at him with a confused expression.

"Alright lets go get you some food then" this seemed to perk her up a bit as Rin wandered through to the kitchen still thinking about the future nestled in the pocket of his jeans.

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"Ow!" Rin exclaimed when he found himself being hit over the head with his mother’s purse, he was seriously questioning what it was made out of. It felt like he'd been assaulted with a brick. He rubbed his head as she sat down opposite him and he heard quiet laughter to his left.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" He pouted slightly at his girlfriend and she covered her mouth her bright amber eyes staring back at him, he couldn’t stay angry for long and smiling he wrapped an arm around her.

"Sorry Rin I can't help it" her laughter faded into a grin as she poked his face which was slightly flushed, a mix of excitement, embarrassment and the restaurants apparent need to turn their diner into a sauna. Gou and Sousuke arrived shortly afterwards and took seats at the table, Rin fist bumped his friend as he sat down next to him which led his sister to question if they were still teenagers on the inside. 

“You’re just jealous of our friendship” Rin stuck his tongue out at her but quickly retraced it behind his teeth at the threat of being hit with the purse again. They knew the place well enough that it only took them a couple of minutes to order once they were handed the menus, Rin knew it so well he could probably tally up the cost of their order faster than half the staff. He really needed to find a better way to make things up to his family…

“So let me see them then” his mother had her arm outstretched expectantly and Rin fished the photo out of his pocket, until now he had forgotten he put it there in the first place. Sousuke leaned in so he could see too and Rin forgot about the heat (and the pitying state of his wallet) for a moment so he could watch their reactions. Predictably his mother teared up muttering something unintelligible about grandchildren, Sousuke just nodded and clapped his friend on the back almost making him choke on the diet coke he was drinking. 

“Congrats Rin” the smile was genuine as he pushed a napkin towards Rin who was still coughing slightly.

“What about me?” Misaki crossed her arms at Sousuke who laughed and reached across to pat her on the head.

“You too Misaki” she smiled brightly at him before patting Rin on the back gently.

“Since you’ll be doing most of the work” Gou chimed in twirling the straw around her drink before popping it in her mouth, the other girl swallowed but put on a determined expression.

“I’ll try my best!” they all laughed at her seriousness Rin pulling her into an embrace as she blushed slightly, everyone knew that she really would do everything she could to make this pregnancy work.

“Don’t think you can get away with slacking off though Rin” his mother warned and he shrunk back slightly.

“Yeah we expect you to pull your weight too” Gou added Sousuke nodding solemnly, how had this turned on him so fast?!

“Of course I will, what do you guys take me for?” he asked wondering how he always ended up in the wrong, was it his personality or something? The food arrived after that so Rin didn’t have time to focus on any character flaws he might or might now have, not that it mattered much to him anyway he was happy as long as his family were happy. That’s all he wanted right now.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where is she?!” Rin yelled running through the hospital doors almost smacking into Sousuke in his haste, his friend grabbed him and pulled him along silently. Rin lost track of how many turns they took or how many stairs they went up, the white walls all looked the same like a maze he had no way out of. Finally they stopped in front of a room and Sousuke held the door open before Rin swung it off the hinges.

“Misaki!” he rushed to the bed, she looked up weakly at his arrival curving her lips into a smile though Rin could see she was clearly in a huge amount of pain, he pushed back some strands of hair from her forehead feeling sweat soaking his fingers. She reached out the hand closest to him and he took it immediately trying not to show his surprise by how light it felt between his palms, he noticed an IV sticking out of the other hand resting on her stomach. He looked around for their midwife and breathed out in relief when she smiled at him.

“Don’t worry Rin the first one’s in good position so no C-section necessary at the moment” she turned back to whatever she was doing and Rin rested his forehead against Misaki’s still clutching her hand tightly.

“Honestly Rin…the first thing your children are gonna see will be you crying at this rate” she smiled at him and he wiped his eyes sniffing.

“They won’t remember it” he grinned until her expression twisted in pain and she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, he hadn’t noticed until now but there was some blood staining the sheets already. But he didn’t have time to think about that, his hand was suddenly gripped as various people in the room shouted words of encouragement towards the girl.

“Just a little further!” Rin joined in keeping his eyes focused on hers which were squeezed shut most of the time but when she opened them they locked onto his red ones and held strong. But no matter how focused he was there was no way he could’ve missed that first cry, he couldn’t resist turning his head as the baby was held up, cord cut and laid gently into a cot he hadn’t noticed at the side of the room. Satisfied that someone was attending to the infant he turned back to Misaki slightly worried at her paled skin tone, the blood from her lip had dried a dark red and for some reason it sent chills down his spine.

“Almost there!” by this point Rin didn’t even pay attention to the tears streaming down his face, he was running on about two hours of sleep and his emotions were too much to contain right now. Although he’d heard it only a few minutes before the sound of his child crying still made him stop breathing for a second and again he looked round to ensure they were safe, the cots were next to each other the babies nestled inside.

“You did it Misaki, we did it” not having the strength to shout he whispered in her ear listening to her heavy breathing, using his sleeves to clean up his face he dragged the fabric across her lip to get rid of the blood. She opened her eyes slowly smiling slightly as her gaze fixed on Rin.

“Are they okay?” she whispered back and he nodded wiping tears with his arm.

“You did so well” she sighed in relief the smile still on her lips, her eyes fluttered closed again and her head fell sideways causing her hair to fall across her face. ‘I’m sure she’s tired’ Rin thought sniffing as he reached out to move the strands from her nose. 

Brushing his fingers against her cheek he was alarmed by how cold she felt and drew back to look at her properly warning bells going off in his head.

“Misaki?” he asked before he was almost shoved out of the way by a doctor resting his hand against the girls forehead, jumping at a sudden touch on his arm Rin realized he had accidentally backed into their midwife. His face must have said it all because she just rubbed his arm gently in what he assumed was an attempt to comfort him, but the stony faced expression on her face was having the opposite effect. He turned his eyes back to his girlfriend and wondered how he could have missed it.

Blood was blossoming across the sheets spreading crimson over the white cotton.

He felt his breathing quicken and tried to rush forwards but suddenly there were too many people in the way yelling different things and someone was calling his name, the lights were too bright and it’s like he was watching everything through frosted glass.

“She’s getting worse we need transfusions, now!”

He heard a voice screaming in the distance, he couldn’t quite make out the words but after a while the tone became choked and as Rin put a hand to his throat he realized it was his own voice he was hearing. 

“Misaki…” he rasped desperately searching for any sign that things were going to be okay, she wasn’t conscious anymore and all the colour was drained from her skin. 

“She’s not responding!” another sound became apparent to Rin amongst the screaming he registered as his newborn children’s, the screaming from the other doctors in the room and his own weak attempts at talking. 

The heart monitor was flat lining.

“Rin come on” familiar woman or not there was no way Rin was going to let himself be dragged out of the room now.

“I can’t leave her” he said reaching his arm out the flat line still ringing in his ears as the screaming in the room died down. 

“Mr. Matsuoka, I’m sorry, I truly am” Rin shook off the hand on his arm in a sudden burst of anger whipping round and grabbing the doctor by the collar. Logically deep in his brain he knew that it wasn’t his fault but right now he needed someone to blame even if it was only for the next five minutes.

“Why, why didn’t you save her!” his voice shook with the weight of the tears he was desperately trying to hold back.

“There was nothing more we could do, she was too far gone” the fact that the doctor was keeping his calm and talking gently just made Rin even angrier, mostly because he knew he was right. Nothing he did now would change the fact that she was never coming back. He felt his arm being patted and his fingers gently relinquished their grip on the collar as he walked away. 

“We’ll give you a minute, we’re taking your children somewhere safe okay?” the words passed straight through the haze surrounding Rin as he took a few steps forward, turns out he couldn’t manage any more than that and sank to his knees by the bedside. With trembling fingers he reached for her hand, he couldn’t tell if he was crying because his whole body felt sort of numb but his sleeve came away wet when he dragged it across his face. Looking up at her there was a part of him that wasn’t quite sure this was reality, surely it was a dream and he’d fallen asleep at work? He had only had about three hours sleep the night before because… oh that’s right, Misaki had stomach pain last night so they stayed up watching TV. He felt like half of his brain was still trying to catch up, probably to the half that was currently sobbing into the blood soaked sheets of his girlfriend’s hospital bed. 

“Why did this have to happen?” they had always known that pregnancy would be difficult, her anemia was bound to cause complications but she had always maintained her usual strength and Rin had found himself ignoring any previous doubts. Maybe the pregnancy had been harder than she’d let on and Rin had been happy to believe everything was fine…no he couldn’t start blaming himself that wouldn’t solve anything now. Gripping the edge of the bed he hauled himself up and looked at her face one more time, he knew it wasn’t her anymore, not really…but he still felt like he should say goodbye to her here.

“I’ll take care of them Misaki, I promise. I-I love you” he choked out managing to catch his breath in a huge gulp so he wouldn’t be consumed again, realistically he knew he couldn’t stay in there with her forever.

“Rin” he turned to the door to see the midwife giving him a weird smile and he nodded numbly as he led her lead him out, his eyes stayed on her until the door closed behind him. He blinked as he took in the bright lights and flashes of colour by people running up to him.

“Rin!” he was overwhelmed with the scent of flowers and soft fabric against his skin, along with the red hair in his vision he recognized it as Gou who had her arms around his neck. He lifted his arms to return the hug but since he was functioning on autopilot he was moving a bit slowly and she drew back her eyes full of worry. 

“I don’t care, now tell me what the hell’s going on!” looking past his sister Rin’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of his best friend, he had never seen Sousuke this angry and it shocked him back to his senses a little. Stumbling slightly Gou helped him over to the male who finally caught sight of Rin and let whoever he was harassing go back to their job, he pulled Rin into a hug crushing him. It must have hurt his shoulder and the thought made Rin tear up again.

“Rin…what happened?” Sousuke led him to a bench that he wasn’t aware they even put in the hallway, had this been there the whole time? He was grateful for the seat though, the exhaustion was starting to get to him, his eyes were fixed staring vacantly ahead at the wall.

“She’s gone Sousuke” 

“What do you mean ‘she’s gone’?”

“Rin, do you mean…?” Gou’s voice trembled and she clasped her hands to her mouth, Sousuke still had one arm around Rins shoulders as his eyes darted between the two siblings.

“She…she’s dead?” his teal gaze joined Rin in staring at the wall and they sat there in silence for several moments, save for Gou’s shaky breathing. 

“Mr. Matsuoka” they all looked up at the voice and saw an unfamiliar nurse staring down at them, she smiled when they saw her and Rin slowly stood up.

“Would you like to see your children?” the mixed emotions he felt threatened to bubble to the surface again but he kept it together enough to nod, Gou went to stand up but Sousuke put a hand on her arm. The guilt that washed over him made his stomach turn as he realized he had almost forgotten about them for a minute there, but he was slightly happy at least there was something good to come out of this nightmare. He wasn’t sure if it was okay to think that, should he be happy when his girlfriend had just died? He shook it off he wasn’t thinking clearly right now but he needed to at least try and be strong, for their sake. 

He nodded his thanks as the woman showed him to two cots side by side, he didn’t trust his voice yet and his throat still hurt from all the screaming he’d done. It wasn’t until he noticed the different coloured hats on the baby’s heads that he realized he didn’t even know what sex they were. Of course they’d both agreed to keep it a surprise but any thoughts like that had been pushed out of his mind when he got the emergency call from Sousuke only a few hours ago.

“They were in her bag” Rin turned to see their midwife leaning against the doorframe, a safe enough distance away that she wasn’t intruding but close enough that he could hear her. 

“She knew?” he whispered as he glanced between the pale pink and blue wool, Misaki had never been able to keep secrets from him and he always knew what presents everyone had for Christmas each year.

But she had managed to keep this one.

He was surprised and touched and sad all at the same time but before he could start crying again something stopped him. The baby girl, his baby girl opened her eyes, they were a deep sienna brown with flecks of red and veins of amber running through them. He had always been excited to see whose eyes their children would inherit but it looked like they had qualities from both parents, he looked at his son to see his eyes open as well. They were just like his sisters except for the varying quantities of amber and red, his had a more golden tone whilst hers were a warmer fiery brown.

“Have you thought of any names yet?” what parents hadn’t spent a good portion of their evenings thinking of possible names? Rin and Misaki were no different and they had a couple of boys and girls names they both liked but when he looked at them Rin knew what to call them. So when he nodded and the woman handed him a pen he wasted no time in bending down and writing their names on the cots.

“Those are beautiful names” she said as he handed her back the marker finally standing up without the immediate urge to fall down again.

“Thank you” he didn’t need to hear that she would have loved them, he knew she would be happy as long as they were happy and Rin was going to do everything he could to make that happen. They were two of the most important people in his life and he would make sure they knew it.

_Welcome to the world, Sakura, Satsuki._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know babies eyes are blue when they're born but ignore that


	2. Chapter two

“Oi Satsuki time to go!” Rin shouted up the stairs whilst his daughter jumped up and down excitedly, she was holding onto his arm and the movement was unpleasantly jarring the shoulder socket. He’d have to make sure she didn’t do this to Sousuke…

“Do I have to go?” Satsuki appeared at the top of the stairs and Rin grinned, despite the boys protests he was wearing his coat, scarf, hat and gloves already. So either he already knew the he would lose the argument or he was just cold, it was August so it was getting colder but Rin thought this probably wasn’t the reason.

“Yes you have to go, now come on before we’re late” he held his other hand out squeezing when his son slipping his fingers into the larger palm. Yuki bounded over to the door as usual to see them off before she got back to her busy schedule of lying around the house, Rin bent down to pat her head ruffling her ears.

“We’re off!” all three chorused as Satsuki reached up to pull the door shut, standing on his tiptoes Rin watching closely to make sure he didn’t fall over. Rin strapped them both into the back seat, a piece of yellow plastic caught his eye from the seat well, leftover evidence of his failure to put together booster seats. Five hours of him and Sousuke pouring over the instructions while they tried to stop the twins escaping from the playpen, that thing was not 100% childproof no matter what the packaging said. In the end they had to call Gou to put the seats together…minus the parts Rin snapped off trying to simply shove it into place. 

“Everyone strapped in?” he called sliding into the front seat and grabbing his own seat belt, flicking the radio on he started pulling out of the driveway. It had only taken an hour and a half to get up, dressed, fed and out the door today so they were doing better than usual for a Sunday morning. Rin took the time to drive a bit more leisurely, enjoy the scenery not like he hadn’t seen it before he had grown up here but, the ocean was always a sight to see.

Iwatobi Daycare building wasn’t the most exciting place in the world nor was it the biggest, but it was the nearest to their house and if that meant Rin could sleep for another fifteen minutes it would do just fine. Besides it’s not like it wasn’t as good as the other places, there was an art instructor working there for one although Rin often wondered why he wouldn’t use his talents for bigger things. It was him the twins ran up to once they had thrown their outerwear onto their father, Rin hung them up properly before going over to say hi. 

“Morning Haru” he said yawning eyeing the mug of tea in the males hands, he could do with some caffeine and made a mental note to get some teabags later. 

“Rin” he had learnt by now that Haru was a man of few words, maybe it was a creative thing the guy was very into his art, Rin hadn’t seen him without some sort of paint or chalk on his skin somewhere.

“What are we doing today Haru?” Satsuki asked his sister nodding beside him.

“Potato prints” he said a hint of a smile on his face, both twins eyes lit up before they realized Rin was still standing behind them.

“I’ll be back at three okay?” he bent down and they ran to give him a hug one head resting on each shoulder, their arms tightly gripping his jacket. Somewhat reluctantly Rin let them go and gave them a gentle push towards Haru, he knew they were safe with him, as weird as he was Rin trusted him. 

“Bye daddy!” he waved to them as he jogged back to the car to start the long list of things he had to do, consulting his phone (because he would never remember them all otherwise) he ticked off ‘drop kids at daycare’. 

“Now onto shopping” he said to himself sighing, he disliked the weekly shop which is partly why he got it out of the way on Sundays. There were too many loud people there no matter what time he went but there were a few less at the start of the week and for that he was thankful, it also meant there was more chance the shop would have the cereal the twins requested. He was eternally grateful for the twins being old enough to leave at the daycare, not in a harsh way just in an its-hell-to-try-and-control-two-infants-in-a-trolley-while-shopping kind of way.

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Pushing the trolley back into its cubby and checking another item off his list he noticed he still had about two and a half hours until he had to pick the kids up. Minus an hour to go home, put the shopping away and grab something to eat, plus housework that left him…about half an hour to do whatever he wanted. Since he didn’t have work on weekends and he only had a few online students at the moment this was a rare moment of free time and Rin took a few minutes deciding what to do with it. He settled on a plan as he walked back to the car and slid into the seat his hand already reaching for the radio, music on, strapped in he set off for home. 

He was greeted by Yuki attempting to rip the shopping bags open and almost succeeding, Rin had to hold the bags high up which was sapping the strength from the fingers of his right hand while he closed the door with his left. Dumping the food on the side he breathed in relief the dog wagging her tail innocently up at the male.

“Yeah yeah I’ll get you some lunch” or what passed for every meal he gave her, a meaty pouch with a handful of kibble, except for dinner when he just gave her kibble thanks to Sousuke telling him she looked overweight. Rin knew how to care for his own dog, just because Sousuke looked after that stray for a week he thought he was some sort of expert…it wasn’t even his idea to take the dog home in the first place. 

“Now, what should I have…” there was about half a cupboard dedicated to various breakfast items, cereal, waffles, an assortment of jams and marmalades, another shelf full of Rin’s old protein bars and shakes. Even though his swimming days were over he still ate them sometimes, he picked up one that claimed to provide 50% more energy and put it in his jacket for later. If he was going to go for a run before returning to the daycare he would probably need the extra caffeine, vitamins and artificial cherry and carob flavour that he had developed a weird taste for over the years. With that in mind he made a quick lunch of rice along with leftover pork cutlets from the night before and ate it on the sofa in silence. One of the perks of being home alone meant he didn’t have to follow his own rules about only eating at the table, it gave him a weird sense of satisfaction to break his own rules…

“You’d probably say it’s because I’m too hard on myself” he said to himself looking over to the picture above the TV, it was taken just after Rin had gotten his Olympic medal and his family took him out to celebrate. He had somehow ended up paying half of it but he didn’t really mind, the photographer had captured him with his arm around Misaki laughing as she smiled fondly at him. His chest ached looking at the photo and he hauled himself up before he started getting emotional, now wasn’t the time for that he had to remain strong, for them.

As expected when you have children the time for hobbies decreased dramatically, actually Rin couldn’t recall the last time he had had the time to go for a run. The funny thing was he would be right back here in a couple hours, they always took Yuki to the park after daycare, it tired the kids out and it meant the dog was more likely to sleep most of the evening. It crossed his mind that he would look like a completely different person then, as he was now he could maybe pass for young twenties with no commitments, just a guy going for a run. And sometimes that’s all he wanted to be, not that he regretted having children or that he didn’t love them, just that sometimes he wanted to indulge in letting his focus be on breathing in and out staring at the path ahead. Stopping to catch his breath he took a swig from his water bottle, it was almost time to go so he swallowed the last of his energy bar and jogged back in the direction of home.

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“And then Haru made this amazing dolphin print and all these little fish and something called a…what was it again Satsuki?” turning to confer with her brother the young girl lent forwards so she could talk to him where he was holding Rin’s other hand.

“A gradient I think” he lent forwards to answer before turning his attention back to looking ahead, they had stopped at the road where Rin’s grip tightened slightly around the two small hands. He felt himself smiling slightly at his son trying to pronounce the specialist term although he wasn’t actually that bad at it, out of the two he was better with language. Not that Rin made a point out of comparing his children. 

“Yeah that’s it! It went from purple to blue it was so cool!” road crossed and safely within the grounds of the park Rin let go of the twins hands and bent down to unclip the lead from Yuki’s collar. Fluorescent pink with rhinestones, a gift from Gou he apparently wasn’t allowed to throw away for at least a year. Technically she would never know if the dog wore it or not unless she came round but the canine growled every time he tried to prise the fabric from round her neck…

“Don’t run off too far!” he yelled at the two small forms running away from him, taking a tennis ball out of his pocket he threw it in a random direction and followed the twins towards the play equipment. Going to the park as with many other things is a routine, which Rin had come to like since he was always well organized in high school and at 4am routine muscle memory was his best friend. If he wanted to he could probably reach the swings before they did, it was the same place they went every time they went to the park, of course children aren’t always predictable but they liked a certain degree of familiarity. 

“Higher!” they shouted as Rin took a break to re-throw the tennis ball Yuki had brought back to him, she couldn’t actually come in the park but she came to the gate and dropped the ball through the bars. Rin couldn’t remember training her to do this but he was grateful for whatever force kept her bringing the ball back to him, at least she was loyal. It might also have something to do with Rin being the one who feeds her but he liked to think it was a combination of food and friendship. Sousuke had told him dogs are more intelligent that most people give them credit for although now that he thought of it the exact words he’d used were _‘dogs are smarter than you’_.

Regardless of the reason he threw the ball another fifty or so times before his arm started to ache, luckily this was around the time the children had had enough of swinging up and down and their attention moved onto the next important thing.

“What’s for dinner?” they both knew that Rin had been shopping today so there was hope in their eyes as they stared up at their father. Pretending he had no idea what they were talking about the redhead lent down and levelled with Yuki who gave him a ‘the hell are you doing down here?’ look.

“I don’t know, nothing special I don’t think. Right Yuki?” all three gazes were on the dog who just panted at them still holding the tennis ball securely between her jaws.

“But it’s a Sunday!” Satsuki exclaimed and Rin ruffled his hair, the kid looked like he might cry if Rin told him there actually wasn’t anything special for dinner.

“Alright you got me, but I’m not telling you what it is” Rin grinned showing his pointy teeth as he took the twins hands in his, the dog lead tied securely round his wrist.

“Dad!” they chorused in unison causing all three to erupt into laughter as they walked home.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright you two, settle down already!” Rin knew that logically giving them sugar before bed wasn’t a good idea but somehow his schedule hadn’t gone according to plan and they had arrived home later than he expected. Then he couldn’t exactly refuse to give them the treat after they’d seen it in the fridge, and it was a Sunday after all…maybe he was too soft sometimes but he was sure it wouldn’t hurt once in a while. 

Or so he thought but dealing with two children bouncing off the walls at eight o’clock when bedtime was half seven and they had to get up for school tomorrow made him forget his previous philosophy. 

“Sakura get off the sofa! Satsuki you cannot climb the curtains!” running a hand through his hair he stomped towards his son before he lost his grip on the fabric, scooping him up under one arm he picked Sakura up with the other.

“Hey no fair!” they whined at him as he carried them upstairs trying to avoid being hit in the face by their flailing limbs as the attempted escape. If Rin was a regular guy maybe it would have worked but the muscles he had built up swimming meant he could deal with the twins with no problem.

Kicking the door open (gently, he had painted that himself after all) he tried not to trip over any toys that might be on the floor and dumped both children onto one of the beds. One of them switched on the touch lamp illuminating the room while Rin felt little hands climbing up his back. Sakura crawled over and sat in his lap while Satsuki rested his head on his father’s shoulder, a book was put between his fingers which he knew was kept behind her pillow when not in use. 

"Story" she said sleepily, the sugar they'd consumed was starting to run out and he felt the young boy yawn against him pressing his head into Rin’s neck. 

"Alright listen closely then" he didn't even need to turn the pages to recite it by memory but he did it anyway, he only got about halfway through before he felt the weight slipping from his shoulder. Closing the book and sliding it back under the pillow he used one hand to keep Satsuki from falling while he tucked Sakura in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Now he had both hands free he untangled the child from his arm and drew the covers over him and embraced him as well, he paused by the doorway as he always did and looked over the room.

"Night Sakura, Satsuki" he whispered listening for the click of the door as he walked out. 

But the evening wasn't over yet.

Not for Rin, he spent half an hour cleaning up the mess downstairs resulting from the kids sugar high, prepared lunch for them tomorrow remembering to not put tomato in Satsuki's and add extra egg rolls instead. Then the paranoid part of him that he hadn’t really noticed he had until becoming a father kicked in and made him go check both doors downstairs were locked and that Yuki was safely sleeping in her bed. He quickly checked his computer in case of emails, he didn’t need any surprises at work tomorrow, he had one text from Gou reminding it of Sousuke’s birthday the following month. He wiped a hand over his face and put a note on the calendar, when he would find time to shop for a present was beyond his train of thought at the moment, after about half nine coherent thinking went out the window. It was nearing 11 when he fell into his own bed, lifting his head his eyes went to the picture he kept next to him.

"Goodnight Misaki" he breathed as he crawled under the covers, he hadn't gotten rid of the bed they had shared and often woke up reaching over to the left side. Sometimes when the twins had nightmares or there was a thunderstorm the twins would crawl in either side of him. And the feeling of having too much space was still there, but he felt a bit warmer than when he slept alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know if there are any mistakes or if you have any ideas


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin decides he really needs to work on his social skills

Truthfully Rin hated school now that he had kids. 

For one it was a daily battle getting them dressed as it was let alone forcing them into a blazer, he also apparently had the task of tying Sakura’s hair up each day. This had at first required video tutorials for anything more complicated than bunches but now he found he could do fishtail plaits without much difficulty. It still seemed like unnecessary time wasted in his opinion but he was doing the best he could, it was times like this he wished Misaki was here. 

But back to school and the many reasons Rin had once cried down the phone to Sousuke at 2am after he may or may not have drank at least two glasses of wine, which normally he would be fine with but his tolerance had slipped after not drinking for four years. He couldn’t remember the official reason he had called his best friend but there was something about an irrational fear he would run out of hair bands and ruin Sakura’s life forever. Satsuki’s name came up as well in relation to his somewhat shy nature and Rin’s concern he would never make friends, overall it was an embarrassing evening ending with Sousuke telling him to just go back to sleep. A few hours of sleep later and a very strong mug of coffee that Rin had to force down his throat one gulp at a time, he pulled himself together enough to cook breakfast and walk the twins to their class. It came as a surprise to him that they all shed tears over that first day, they were only five at the time so they had an excuse but Rin could probably have done without hugging his bawling children in the corridor. 

“Good morning Matsuoka san!” see one side of Rin was overjoyed that his children had someone so considerate and sensitive for their teacher…but he was way too energetic for 8:15 in the morning.

“I told you Rin is really fine” he said blearily, he knew that Nitori didn’t drink coffee (he had no idea how) but he could murder a mug of that chamomile stuff right about now. 

“Morning Nitori sensei!” luckily the twins had their mum’s morning spirit and did most of the talking for him.

“Morning Sakura, Satsuki you can go ahead” he gestured to the classroom and the rushed in and sat down, Rin waved from his place at the door and nodded to Nitori before leaving. Judging by his previous estimates he had about six minutes to get to his car before he was trampled by children most of whom were no taller than his knees. So to avoid this embarrassment (again) he was willing sacrifice half an hours sleep.

“Safe” he breathed pulling his seatbelt over, 24 minutes until he had to be at work which was luckily only a few streets away from Sano Elementary, after a long discussion with Sousuke and the twins they had decided to attend the same school their father had. 

“Seems like forever ago” he muttered to himself as he pulled into a parking spot outside of the college, thankful that it was only a small establishment meaning he didn’t have to wear a suit he wandered in.

“Morning Rin” the receptionist greeted him as usual and he gave her a toothy grin as he passed.

“Good morning class how are we today?” the fifteen students he had straightened up when he entered and a few smiled at him as he set his notes down with his laptop.

“Good morning Matsuoka sensei” they chorused as he set up the PowerPoint, after achieving his dream in the Olympics he had been at a loss as to what to do next, obviously he had savings but raising two kids alone wasn’t easy. It was actually his mother who suggested he use the talents he already had, spending over five years in Australia and other English speaking countries meant his grasp on the language was better than some of the natives. So he became an English teacher, not to kids or even teenagers, just a small adult class four days a week and he occasionally did translation work for people. There were some nights where he stayed up until the next morning to finish grading papers or conducting skype lessons with people who had the same schedule. Most of these people were in a similar situation, some had kids, some couldn’t leave the house Rin didn’t really care so long as he received an email with the word ‘payment’ on it.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And that’s all for today!” he closed the laptop lid and slipped it back in his bag, a flash of blue caught his eye and he noticed someone standing at the doorway by the back of the class. The individual waited patiently until the students had filed out by which time Rin had finished packing his things and was set to leave.

“Matsuoka san I presume?” up close he was first aware of the guys bright red glasses and purple eyes, he shook the hand he was offered still confused as to who the hell this was.

“Err yeah that’s me” 

“My name is Ryugazaki Rei I started teaching here today, out of politeness I thought it best to introduce myself to the other staff” had Rin introduced himself when he arrived? He didn’t think so…but then again this was the first person who had introduced themselves to him other than Touka who worked at reception.

“Oh um welcome to Sano College I’m sure you’ll like it here” it was times like this Rin reminded himself that he should take Sousuke up on his offer to go out more, talking to seven year olds all say sort of left him rusty when it came to socializing. 

“I assume so considering the layout is fairly simple so there’s little chance of getting lost, I have a class online meaning the possibility of forgetting names is less than 10% if I memorize them within the week and the cafeteria-oh sorry I shouldn’t be boring you with this” Rin just shook his head still trying to wrap his brain around the long string of words entering his system.

“Nine that’s a err small class, whatcha teaching?” he realized he sounded incredibly informal next to this man and probably most other teachers but for now he blamed it on lack of sleep (it had become his favourite excuse over the years).

“Physics mainly although I do partake in a few online chemistry classes” 

“That’s impressive, I teach English” considering he had probably been stood at the back long enough to pick up on that information Rin wasn’t sure why he offered it again but oh well.

“Yes your accent is rather good did you spend time abroad?” 

“Actually I spent two years in-“

“Rei chan!” he was cut off by a high pitched voice and someone attempting to tackle the blunette to the ground, and almost succeeding. Rin saw blonde hair and deep magenta eyes clinging to the guy’s arm rubbing his cheek on the fabric of his sweater.

“Nagisa I told you not to shout that loudly in public!” Rin didn’t point out that he was now shouting at least a few decibels higher than the blonde had done a few seconds ago.

“Aw but Rei chan I’m just happy to see you”

“Yes well, there’s no need to yell” adjusting his frames he gestured to Rin who ’Nagisa’ finally noticed was standing there awkwardly.

“This is Matsuoka Rin, he’s my colleague” where exactly did this guy get his name from anyway?

“Hiya Rin chan I’m Nagisa nice to meet you!” he winked and stuck his tongue out at Rin who looked at Rei for help.

“Well we’d better get going, it was lovely meeting you Matsuoka san I hope we can talk again sometime” he began herding Nagisa to the door who had begun rambling something about strawberry ice cream and a new store near the train station. What sort of self-respecting adult still ate ice cream at the train station? Surely that was a luxury reserved for awkward high schoolers on first dates, at least that’s how it had been for Rin when he was younger. Then again Nagisa didn’t seem that old, maybe Rei was his father or something?

“Oh um sure and you can just call me Rin” 

“Alright then, Rin san you can call me Rei as well” Rin waved to the two as they left wondering what exactly that was all about, but he could wonder later school finished in five minutes and he was going to be late.

“I really need to get out more” he laughed to himself as he jogged to the car.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey Gou how are things?” Rin grinned as he closed the fridge with his elbow, the phone currently balanced between his ear and shoulder because his arms were full. Dumping dinner’s ingredients onto the side he pick up the device properly and lent against the counter. It hadn’t taken him as much nerve as he’d thought he would need to pick up the phone but now there was no turning back he was getting little nervous, he hadn’t been out in a long time but more than that was he allowed to go out? Did single parents leave their children behind even if it was for the first time in seven years? He wasn’t really sure why he thought going out and getting tipsy with Sousuke would be the answer to well anything really but it was the plan he had come up with and he intended to follow it through. Whether that was a good idea or not was another story.

_“We’re alright, why are you calling? Did you upset someone again?”_

“Hey that was one time! And I still maintain that you don’t pick a fight with a stranger and his kids over a bag of birdseed”

_“Rin we’re not having this conversation again”_

“You’re the one who brought it up!”

_“So, why are you calling?”_

“I actually wanted to speak to Sousuke”

_“Did you two fall out?”_

“Why are you assuming I fight with everyone all the time, I’m not that aggressive!” there was silence on the other end of the line and he realized he sort of walked himself into that one.

“Whatever, is he there or not?”

 _“Hold on”_ he heard her call for Sousuke and a minute later the phone was passed over, Rin’s was now back pressed into his neck while he chopped onions and carrots.

_“So you have another domestic at the 24 hour Kombini* again?”_

“Did Gou tell you to say that?”

_“What do you mean?”_

“Never mind” this was further proof that he really needed to work on his people skills, they had admittedly never been the best but the isolation newborn twins provided meant he had slipped back into old ways. Especially if he apparently hadn’t been calling his family unless he had a problem.

“Can we go out sometime?” he held his breath the knife pausing in its decent to behead a carrot, Rin hated showing his vulnerability and Sousuke was the one person he could never hide it from.

_“I’m afraid you’re about ten years too late to ask me out on a date Rin, your sister got there first”_

“You’re such an idiot” if they were still teenagers he would’ve called him something a lot worse and it crossed his mind how long it had been since he’d sworn. Or had a drink, or gone somewhere that wasn’t related to his children. But thinking about having fun by himself caused a wave of grief so strong it made him feel sick, Misaki had literally given up her life for these children and Rin would do anything for them. But he couldn’t deny that there were times he wanted to curl into a ball and sleep for a week, to forget all the responsibilities and trust that when someone said ‘it’ll be okay’, he could believe it.

_“You’re a bigger idiot, obviously we can go out, live it up a little God knows you haven’t seen the inside of a bar in years”_

“I actually went into a pub the other day I’ll have you know”

_“You were having lunch with your mum at the local carvery and you ordered diet coke”_

“They still sold alcohol” he muttered scooping the vegetables into his palms and depositing them in the pot on the stove.

_“Haha when were you thinking?”_

“Um, when are you free?”

_“Wow you never used to be this hesitant, having children really has softened you”_

“Talk to me after you’ve had your own bro”

_“Friday night sound good?”_

“I suppose so”

_“Don’t get all sulky this was your idea”_

“Yeah well I’m starting to think I should’ve asked Haru instead” truthfully he had no idea whether Haru even knew what alcohol was much less if he drank it, he seemed somewhat innocent in that area but this was only Rin’s guessing. Maybe he should invite him just to piss Sousuke off…

_“You’ll have a better time with me and you know it”_

“Now who’s asking who on a date?”

_“Shut up, I’ll pick you up at 7”_

“Oh my, what should I wear?” Rin joked as if he had anything other than t shirts and clothes for work in his wardrobe, maybe a few pairs of running shorts as well. Certainly nothing that qualified as suitable for a night out.

 _“Gou’s free then so she can babysit”_ this was one of the things he liked about Sousuke, Rin didn’t even have to ask if Gou would babysit before his friend offered it. He hadn’t ever had a proper babysitter before, the idea of leaving the twins with a stranger terrified him no matter how good their resume might be. He made a mental note to buy his sister something nice to show his gratitude.

“Tell her thanks for me would ya?” it was this moment Satsuki chose to come running into the kitchen closely followed by his sister both looking expectantly up at their father to deliver the news of what dinner was this evening.

“Look I gotta go I’ll see you then okay?”

 _“Alright bye”_ he hung up the phone before Rin could reply and he stared vaguely at the object, maybe he could owe some of his bad social skills to too much time spent with Sousuke. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday rolled round soon enough and Rin answered the door, he was wearing a new shirt he had ordered online from a store he used to frequent in high school, nothing fancy just a flannel button up. Over that he wore a thin, long scarf, his black hat and leather jacket, not like he had gone to any effort or anything. Overall the new clothes had only cost him about 5000 yen since most of it was on sale, it was a little strange to think back to the days when Rin could be considered fashionable, now he just threw on whatever was clean. 

“Rin” he turned at the voice his red eyes widening at the male, instead of his usual paint splattered t shirt he was wearing a white long sleeved top, with a pale blue blazer over the top, charcoal grey jeans snug around his hips and casual shoes. Rin was taken aback by the change and tried to think of something to say instead of just staring.

“Uumm h-hey Haru, you err look nice” he coughed his way through the sentence inciting a raised eyebrow from the ravenette. When he had invited him he’d never actually expected him to turn up but who knows maybe even Haru needed a night off, although on second thought if he was going to invite someone he should’ve chosen someone with better social skills. He sensed that was no longer the main point of the evening anymore…

“Is it that much of a surprise?” he sighed and turned his blue eyes away to look across the car park.

“Guess I’m just used to seeing you covered in chalk that’s all” Haru nodded and Rin stuck his hands in his pocket rocking back and forth on his heels until he saw Haru nod again. He followed his gaze to see Sousuke walking towards them not attempting to hide the look he was giving the male.

“Rin why is he here?” completely ignoring Haru he went straight to Rin, well he knew he would be a little upset but he didn’t think he disliked him that much. They had only met the once when Rin had been too much of a mess to take the kids to the daycare, he was careful not to get ill again after that because whatever had gone down between them obviously hadn’t been good.

“I invited him” he knew better than to look away from the teal gaze if he was going to win the argument and a few seconds later Sousuke exhaled and looked away.

“Alright fine since it’s your night” Haru seemed mostly uninterested in the exchange and they found him waiting by the door, there was a small table in the corner that they nabbed and Rin sat between the two. It wouldn’t be his first time breaking up a bar fight but hopefully they could both be civil, maybe alcohol would take the edge off?

“I’ll take a red wi-“

“You’ll take a vodka and coke” Sousuke cut in with a stare that left no room for argument before turning to meet Haru’s eyes.

“Mojito” they both stared at him, Rin wasn’t entirely why, they were in a bar it wasn’t out of place to order alcohol in fact the opposite would be weird. But Haru? Ordering a cocktail? This was the man who he had only ever seen drinking tea, he wouldn’t even touch coffee and here he was ordering white rum. He expected Sousuke to refuse but he just nodded and went off to the bar the confused expression lingering on his features.

“What, I like mint” he replied to Rin who had forgotten he was still staring. He did find Haru’s answer amusing though, as if his choice of cocktail was what was weird about his order and not the fact that Rin was surprised he even knew what a cocktail was. This was turning out to be an interesting evening.

Sousuke set down the three glasses about ten minutes later, Haru’s a display of different greens from the lime and mint which he immediately picked out and put in his mouth chewing slowly. Rin took a sip of his vodka and coke to gauge the rough ratio of alcohol to soft drink, a familiar burning as the liquid slid down his throat confirmed his suspicions. But Sousuke had gone one step further with a tall glass of absinthe and coke, the anise smell was a dead giveaway and he had been well known in college for being able to drink the stuff without passing out. Nevertheless it was still extremely potent and Rin wondered who would end up in the gutter first.

“Haven’t seen you drink that in years” he commented nodding to the drink as Sousuke grinned swallowing the alcohol wincing slightly as he did so.

“You haven’t been out in years, thought I’d celebrate a bit”

“We’ll see about that when you’re lying face down in the road in a few hours’ time”

“You don’t think I’ve still got it?”

“Sousuke the last time you drank absinthe was over eight years ago”

“Well unlike you I haven’t lost my tolerance” the exchange as well as the vodka working its way through his system, was starting to make Rin feel more at ease. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was approaching half 9 when Rin snuck away to the bathroom leaving Sousuke and Haru to glare at each other, hopefully they wouldn’t get into a fight before he got back, he liked that daycare. Luckily the toilets were empty and he locked himself in a cubicle grabbing the phone from his pocket.

“Gou?” 

_“Why is it a question, you’re not that drunk yet are you?”_

“Shut up, and no I’ve only had two drinks although believe me Sousuke had other ideas”

 _“I’ll bet, you two haven’t been out in a long time”_ and apparently everyone was intent on pointing it out, just because he’d been off the scene for a while didn’t mean Rin couldn’t have a good time, probably. He was enjoying the evening so far aside from the niggling guilt in his chest he got every time he laughed out loud, and that one moment Haru had chosen to try and demonstrate social skills. Even Rin knew it wasn’t a good idea to talk about your hobbies for half an hour, no amount of alcohol could make a lecture on pastels verses pencils bearable. But leaving Sousuke to suffer was only part of the reason he found himself escaping to make a phone call, of course he had just said he needed the toilet, they didn’t need to know the real reason.

“How are they?” that’s right, he was the walking stereotype of a worried parent albeit his circumstances were a little less than common than the usual single dad that was for sure. He knew the twins would have been in bed an hour ago and it felt weird that he hadn’t said goodnight to them, it was as much a part of his routine as brushing his teeth was. Who knows whether he would even do that tonight, it had been proven over the years that it didn’t take a whole lot to throw Rin’s plans into disarray much to his annoyance.

 _“Both safely in bed, sleeping”_ she added for good measure just in case Rin hadn’t grasped the idea that bed meant sleep, he knew from experience that just because you’re between the sheets doesn’t mean you’re asleep. For a variety of reasons, most of the ones he could think of weren’t the good kind.

 _“I checked, twice”_ had he said any of that out loud? God he hoped not this evening was embarrassing enough already. Gou knew him pretty well though so anything he said was unlike to be a surprise, the phone had probably been in her hand before he’d even dialed the number. 

“Okay good, thanks again” he tried to hide his sigh of relief although logically his sister would never let anything bad happen, at least he’d remembered to thank her this time. It was a bad habit of his to assume that people would always be there for him, and he probably didn’t show as much gratitude as he should mainly because his pride got in the way. It all got very embarrassing when Rin tried to put his feelings into gestures, Sousuke having the emotional capacity of a potato sometimes was also less than helpful. He cares really though, or at least Rin hoped he did. He had no reason to believe otherwise especially since he was currently giving up a Friday night with Gou (Rin refused to think any further about what that might entail) to drink cocktails with a daycare art teacher with a mojito and well Rin.

 _“How’s your night out going then?”_ he heard shifting and guessed she was probably downstairs watching TV, he would’ve bet Yuki was curled up on the sofa as well despite not usually being allowed due to Rin’s hatred for fur on his cushions.

“As far as social skills go I think I could’ve learnt more from watching the discovery channel, but otherwise its um fun” he left out the tall glass of absinthe currently in her husband’s hand and the fact that he still didn’t have the heart to point out to Haru he had mint between his teeth but…

 _“You sure about that? There’s a spot here if you want it your favourite sitcom just started”_ for a second there a part of Rin was already dropping the phone into his pocket and running for the back door, night out forgotten. Then again wasn’t that typical of him? Bail on any sort of chance to get himself together in favour of drowning any emotional turmoil he had in a tub of ice cream while watching other people’s lives fall apart? Even if said people were fictional and probably still had better control over their feelings than Rin did. 

“Nah I’d better stay here, make sure Sousuke gets home alright”

_“Why wouldn’t he?”_

“No reason, bye sis!” he hung up before she could chew him out on what happened last time Sousuke got drunk and how it’s okay for him because he doesn’t have to deal with it. The guy was his best friend but he was whinier than Rin when he was ill which was saying something. He wandered back into the bar area where the two guys seem to have lapsed into a weird silence while they sipped their drinks, speaking of which they were about done. This might be his chance to end the evening as he should do and still have time to catch the second half of the programme, two birds one stone as they say. Actually three if he counted the pain starting to seep into his head and the nausea rolling around in his stomach.

“Shall we get going?” Sousuke went to shake his head but the action obviously caused him some pain and he nodded slowly, Haru got up to take the glasses back to the bar but Rin held up a hand.

“I’ll take them, see if you can get this guy outside without him falling” Rin grinned at the look on the male’s face as he left him with Sousuke. The barman looked confused as to why someone was bringing the glasses back although maybe it was because it was still fairly early or the fact that Rin was still able to string a sentence together.

“Good night for business?” he enquired, this was why he was here after all and since he wasn’t going to get anything usual from his friends he might as well start talking to strangers. It was better than talking to himself at least, or in desperate times his dog.  
“Yeah, you have a nice evening?” he was still eyeing Rin suspiciously as he pulled some coins form his pocket and deposited them into the little tip jar on the side, next to a bowl of what were actually decent looking peanuts. This seemed to please the man more and Rin returned the smile.

“Have a great night!” he called as Rin turned to go find his friends.

“You too!” keeping his head down to hide the small smile on his face he made his way to the parking lot, despite everything he had enjoyed himself and he actually felt a little more prepared now. Who knows maybe next time someone spoke to him they could become friends. ‘God knows I need some new ones’ he thought as he watched Haru glaring at Sousuke who was hanging off his shoulders eyes barely open, he was slightly impressed Haru had managed to lift him at all.

“Thought you said you could handle it?” he tilted his head down to meet his friends eyes the teal iris’s struggling to focus on his face.

“Shut up, just- just get me to a taxi or something okay?” Rin laughed and took his other arm over his shoulders, his house was only about fifteen minutes away he was sure they’d manage.


End file.
